brush1
n.
- an implement with a handle and a block of bristles, hair, or wire, used for cleaning, smoothing, or painting.
▸an act of brushing.
- a slight and fleeting touch.
▸a brief encounter with something bad or unwelcome:
a brush with death.
- the bushy tail of a fox.
-
(usu. brushes)
a drumstick with long wire bristles, used to make a soft hissing sound.
- a piece of carbon or metal serving as an electrical contact with a moving part in a motor or alternator.
- Austral./NZ informal girls or women regarded sexually.
v.
- clean, smooth, or apply with a brush.
- touch or push lightly and gently.
-
(brush someone/thing off)
dismiss someone or something in an abrupt, contemptuous way.
-
(brush up on or brush something up)
work to regain a previously learned skill.
Derivative
- brushless adj. (chiefly technical).
- brushy adj.
Etymology
ME: noun from OFr. broisse; verb partly from OFr. brosser ‘to sweep’.
brush2
n.
chiefly N. Amer. &
Austral./NZ undergrowth, small trees, and shrubs.
▸N. Amer. cut brushwood.
▸Austral./NZ dense forest.
Etymology
ME: from OFr. broce, perh. based on L. bruscum, denoting an excrescence on a maple.